[MOD/Script] - Dynamic Wormholes

[Cash'Lu]

Description:-

This package will add a pair of wormholes to the x-universe. This pair will change sectors every 5 minutes.

The wormholes can link a friendly sector to a Xenon sector, or a friendly to a friendly. Also, in some cases, it may not link at all (Most probably the X3 game engine will send you to Kingdom's End).

Installation:-

http://files.filefront.com/wormholezip/ ... einfo.html

Download the above .zip file.

Install the .spk using Cycrow's installer.
Rename and extract the .CAT/.DAT to your highest .CAT number in your X3 folder, adding one.

Example - My X3 folder has a highest number of 14.CAT and 14.DAT. Thus, I will rename the .CAT and .DAT of the mod to 15.CAT and 15.DAT. Then I'll move them to the X3 installation folder.

Uninstall:-

Disable the mod from the AL Plugin menu and wait at least 6 in game minutes (use SETA if you like). Then delete the .CAT/.DAT and remove the script using Cycrow's installer.

Options:-

The mod will put 2 new AL plugin options in the options menu.

1)Wormholes enabled? - if set to yes a pair of wormholes will be generated every 5 minutes in 2 random sectors.

2)Wormholes BBS enabled? - if set to yes the mod will try to put up a BBS message in some stations mentioning the sectors that have a wormhole in them. Those who like exploring and mystery can leave this option set to no.

Bugs:-

Due to the way the BBS engine works, sometimes the "report" can be old ie. the wormhole pair would have changed sectors, but the BBS will still report the old sectors. This doesn't happen often unless you spend days docked at the same station.

Please, I released this package now so people will have ample time to post any bugs encountered. I will try to address such bugs in 2-3 weeks time after my exams are over.

Compatibility:-

Tested with XTM 0.7 and works fine
In theory it should also work with a vanilla install of X3, but please, I need somebody bold enough to test it with a no mod X3.

Also, if users of other mods would like me to add compatibility just send me the TGates file or else just modify the TGates file yourself if you know how. No need to ask me for permission. All you need is to PM me a link to the changed compatibility package.

Permissions:-

As mentioned above, if you know how, just go ahead and change what you want. This includes wormhole model, script changes/improvements. All I would like is to PM me a link to the changed version. (And mentioning me as the moron of the first version would be nice )

Resources:-

Uses TextFile 8998 (only 44 language)
Uses Text id 8998
Changes TGate file

[THE_BIG_FISH:Leo]

sounds awesome what's the wormhole look like? is it like a new gate or is it just a normal jumpgate.

[Cash'Lu]

Its a new model, and trust me, it has nothing to do with the normal jumpgates

I could post a screenshot, but I don't want to spoil the surprise. But lets just say you'll certainly won't miss it.

I'll try to post a screenshot link via spoiler tags.

EDIT:- Fixed

Spoiler

Show

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii1/ ... rmhole.jpg

[THE_BIG_FISH:Leo]

i just took a peek with 3dmax and it looks well like a wormhole

[Kortako]

Hey, this sounds really cool. I haven't tried it yet, but one thing worries me, if you want some feedback. Is 5 minutes long enough? I mean, if you're on the other side of a sector and you see the wormhole, could you even get there in time? Realistically, 5 minutes is a really short amount of time, and if you SETA x10 it, the wormhole's gone in 30 seconds.

I was thinking maybe you could make the switch time random, from maybe 5 minutes to an hour or 2. That way, some wormholes would be really "stable" and last a really long time, and others would be fairly unstable and last 5 to 10 minutes. What do you think?

[Locksley]

Either that or more wormholes. I am for more of 'em How's the cpu drain? And do the free traders use em? If they don't that's perfectly natural, only a nutcase would use a wormhole when there is normal gates - but then again if profitssss are to be made....

[Cash'Lu]

Well, for adding more wormholes I noticed at least my PC (quad core) slowed down noticeably, especially when generating a new pair.

If you want, I can try to up the time, but be warned, I had it on 10 minutes....and one of them opened up in a Xenon sector....the result was not nice

It seems that some AI ships do actually use them yes, especially the Xenon it seems.

I'll give this a week to get enough feedback, if I see people wanting a longer time I'll up it

The "link" time was something that is a bit "iffy" to get right, but I'll certainly put it on my "To do" list

[Lancefighter]

perhaps scale by use / ship size that traveled through it?
This way, if the xenon start moving en masse, the wormhole will simply shut down instead of letting dozens of capships through.

[Kortako]

Well, when thinking about script balance, my mindset is, if the wormhole opens in a Xenon sector for an hour, then so be it. The universe is random, and you can't really control the consequences. That would be too cheap, if it only stayed open a long time in "safe" sectors. So to me, if a wormhole opens up that allows a major Xenon invasion, then hey, that's a cool, significant event that just happened in the universe. It adds more flair and you'll have to plan around stuff like that. Maybe you could add a BBS message that alerts people of a possible Xenon invasion if it opens in a Xenon sector. Same for Kha'ak if you have them set to open in their sectors.

Edit: Also, about adding new pairs: How much did it slow down? A lot when just adding one new pair? If not, maybe you could just have it add a few over time, and make sure there is a cap; i.e. five wormholes in the entire universe max.

[Cash'Lu]

@ Lancefighter - I'm not sure if the scripting language will allow me to detect the number/size of ships passing through. Could also be cause I'm still a noob scripter compared to the others (this is my first "official" release, and my second "overall" release).

@ Kortako - The slow down was the whole game literally stopping for almost a second each time the wormhole event triggered. If especially I made them randomly timed, random amount (with a cap) or a combination of both it will freeze the game quite often. The problem is that 1)It scans for 2 sectors, each having an amount of checks (gate IDs, gate locations, gate amount etc...) and 2)Its spawning a new in game model.

I'll try to up the link time after my exams are finished, maybe I'll find a way to make the scripts more efficient and streamlined.

Thanks for the feedback though

[Tenlar Scarflame]

I really like the idea of this but I feel a slightly different take on it- you know the Jump Holes from Freelancer? They're covert and some distance from the usual trade lanes, but they're only intermittently open.

So what I think would be fun is to generate a good healthy handful of random pairs of wormholes that are somewhat close to each other, sector-wise. (maybe 3 normal jumps tops?) and each pair would be on a unique on/off timer- each pair is predictable but has a different on/off timer than another pair. In this way, smart traders would know the wormholes and would use them as shortcuts to their destinations; you'd also have a new and creative way to smuggle with less police interference, if you know the wormholes. And finally, the Pirates and Xenon would have new and creative (and slightly consistent) ways to invade unknowing sectors! Assuming a wormhole sets up in their neighborhood.

Then, on top of that, there could be a random wormhole pair or two that would jump around the universe, as you have currently.

Now of course, I have absolutely no idea how much scripting/modding prowess that would take, or what kinds of fun and masochistic CPU loads it would cause. But that's my 2 creds.

[Makita]

Well, when thinking about script balance, my mindset is, if the wormhole opens in a Xenon sector for an hour, then so be it. The universe is random, and you can't really control the consequences. That would be too cheap, if it only stayed open a long time in "safe" sectors. So to me, if a wormhole opens up that allows a major Xenon invasion, then hey, that's a cool, significant event that just happened in the universe. It adds more flair and you'll have to plan around stuff like that. Maybe you could add a BBS message that alerts people of a possible Xenon invasion if it opens in a Xenon sector. Same for Kha'ak if you have them set to open in their sectors.

I second that

[Cash'Lu]

Seems the general consensus it that you want longer link times. I'll up the times once I get relieved from my exams.

As to having seperate timers, I'm sure it can be done some way, but I need to do some research on it cause as I said, I'm still a noob

I have a slight idea how to go about it, but I need to test it, because I don't think you can change the AL plugin timer on the fly.

[Einheit 101]

Nice. Really awesome!
But the Download is no longer available, could you pls fix this?